World News - Wyo. Rancher Gives the University of Pittsburgh 4,700 Acres of Land Full With Dinosaur Fossils

A Wyoming rancher with no connection to the University of Pittsburgh has given the school 4,700 acres of land littered with dinosaur fossils. The university plans to maintain the land, valued at $7 million, for students and researchers in geology, archaeology and other disciplines. The university plans to team up on programs there with the University of Wyoming and Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History. "They have a real gem out there," said Mary Dawson, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum who visited the ranch several years ago. The land is "littered with fossils."... http://abcnews.go.com

Even while acknowledging that some al Qaeda leaders may have been killed in a recent U.S. military strike in his country, Pakistani President Musharraf today insisted it's his army that's winning the war on terrorism. He told an audience at the Nobel Institute in Norway that his military has now captured 700 al Qaeda terrorists. "We've taken away their sanctuaries, where they were in the hundreds. Now they are only in the dozens around in the mountains and we are chasing them," Musharraf said. But there are many more out there, and they want the world to know it, reports CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart. Somehow, the ones being chased continue to find time to make home movies. The latest batch on a terrorist-linked Web site show volunteers being trained in small arms and tactics somewhere in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. They leave no doubt who their targets are – and even display ground to air missile capability. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/24/eveningnews/main1235931.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=World_1235931

A man on a weekend getaway was arrested after allegedly burglarizing the Fort Bragg motel where he was staying, then leaving a note indicating where to find him. Enrique Rodriguez Vasquez, 37, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of methamphetamine after police confronted him at the Best Western motel room he'd described in the note. Police found a computer hard drive, television satellite device and $200 reported missing from the motel, said Fort Bragg Police Lt. Floyd Higdon. The stolen equipment was valued at $1,500. Vasquez's poorly spelled note berated the motel manager for being absent from the office. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1537718

Florida death row inmate Clarence Hill won a last-minute Supreme Court stay Tuesday night about an hour after he was scheduled to be executed for killing a police officer. It was not clear if the court's intervention would only briefly delay Hill's execution, which had been scheduled for 6 p.m. EST, to give justices additional time to review three separate stay requests. Witnesses had gathered at the Florida State Prison for the execution, which was put off for more than an hour before word came from the court. The witnesses were sent home after Justice Anthony M. Kennedy filed paperwork that said Hill's death sentence would "be stayed pending further order" of the justices. ...http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1537714&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Four teens were arrested on attempted murder charges after they beat up a man who was chosen at random, videotaping the planning and the attack "almost like a documentary," police said. A Drexel University engineering graduate student told police he was attacked Friday afternoon by four young men who beat him and tried to throw him in front of a moving car, authorities said. The 30-year-old victim was treated for a dislocated jaw. The suspects, walking around after a scheduled half-day of school, videotaped themselves before the attack as they discussed how they were going to assault a random victim, then took turns holding the camera during the beating, said police Lt. John Walker. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-24-philadelphiateens_x.htm?csp=34

U.S. private contractors, until now the biggest private-sector employers in Iraq, are preparing to leave as U.S. money runs out and Iraqi ministries take charge of the reconstruction effort. "We are drawing down," said Ken Oscar, Fluor Corp.'s vice president for strategy. "We are not done by any stretch of the imagination, but we are drawing down." The engineering and construction giant at one time had 250 to 300 people from the United States in Iraq, and employed roughly 20,000 Iraqis. Now, as the U.S.-funded part of the reconstruction effort comes to a close, Fluor has, perhaps, 100 Americans left in the country and is phasing out the Iraqi jobs. "The net [result] is a lot less employment for Iraqis," Mr. Oscar said, even though much work remains to be done. Most U.S.-funded projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, and it is unlikely that any significant new U.S. funds will be forthcoming. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060123-122641-4655r.htm